Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-07-15
SIXTY HUMAN SKELETONS
CHASTITY Discovery Made in Cave in TenneS-

CHASTITY Discovery Made in Cave in Tennes-
see.
Nashville Letter i'll Memph Avalanche.
There was in Putnam County, before the
war for seventy-tive gears, road within
three miles of Cooksville, leading from
Louisville, Ky, through this State down
into Georgia and South Carolina, and
was known as the Kentucky stock road,
and was at that time the principal high
way for traders between the two sections
Planters, slave dealers, and stockmen
would drive their negroes, mules, etc,
down to the Southern market, returning
with the money from their sales. Such
parties were frequently missing very
mysteriously, no trace of them ever being
found.
The road ian through wild, thinly
settled, mountainous county, the stopping
places or dwellings, where a traveller could
get shelter frequently being thirty or
forty miles apart, and, as recent investi-
cations show, were kept by robbers and
murderers of the worst description, who
fo- years followed this business of whole
sale robbery and murder.
About thirty years ago man who is
now citizen of Cookeville found skele-
ION a. the entrance to a cave, but no
further investigation was ever made un,
til yesterday, and it was left for stran-
ger to make discoveries thai cast in the
shade all stories of like description where
the writer finds his terrible characters
only in his own brain.
party was organized under the leader
ship of Mr.. Ferd. Kincard to explore the
cave where the skeleton was found thirty
years ago. Back on the mountain side,
about one-half mile from one of the
notorious stopping places described, is
the entrance to the cave.
hole something like a well, going
straight down thirty-five feet, was first
passed through, and then the cave opens
into large caverns with a downward
course under the mountain. At the bot
tom of the shaft the party found human
bones, and with a little digging in the
debris that had accumulated at this point
unearthed about sixty skeletons of men
who had been murdered and thrown
down this hole.
Some skulls were found with bullet
holes through them, others having been
mashed with an ak or instrument of that
kind. An old citizen now living in this
vicinity says that the keepers of these
dens would keep track of travellers when
Ihcy pdSocu NIGu sIOCh, anu gu
their return they would be almost certain
to disappear.
The robbers were even SO bold that they
would take the clothing, saddles, and
horses of their victims and use them pub
licly. They would get a man drunk if
possible, and as whisky was plenty and
the custom of drinking common, it was
no hard matter to do them in their drunk
en- stupor, kill and rob and throw their
bodies into this hole.
Without doubt many men, as this fear
full disclosure proves, never returned to
their homes, and anxious friends waited
and watched and wondered why they
never returned.
Not far off, by the side of the road, still
stands house. The walls of one room
are spattersd with human blood. Above
in the mountains about twenty miles was
still worse place, if possible, than this.
Another cave Is there, and would, if in
vestigated, repeat the sickenIng story of
yesterdays investigation. The people
are much excited over this discovery, as
many descendan of the robber gang
arc still living all through Putnam County,
but dead nen tell no tales" and the
history of these fearful crimes will never
he known